Building Resilient Agricultural Value Chains in the Global South Post COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic caused major disruptions to agricultural value chains in the Global South, revealing vulnerabilities in food production, processing and distribution. Global estimates reveal that the COVID-19 pandemic did, in fact, worsen food insecurity in the Global South. This paper, through a systematic literature review, clarifies the relationship between agricultural value chains and the four dimensions of food security and proposes policy paths to enhance the resilience of agricultural value chains in the Global South. The literature reveals that resilience of agricultural value chains is not an intrinsic trait, but a dynamic result of ecosystem governance. It is essential, therefore, that policy interventions move beyond simple input subsidies and toward the integration of digital financial tools and formalized relational governance to link farmers to formal markets.